


An Arctic Adventure

by lemon_juices



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bingo, Flash Bingo, Fluff, Gen, Human Steve Rogers, Love at First Sight, M/M, Marine Biologist Steve Rogers, Merman Tony Stark, Ocean Sex, They don't actually get together here, Tony Stark Flash Bingo, but they will eventually, sight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:27:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26647498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemon_juices/pseuds/lemon_juices
Summary: Featuring Steve Rogers, a marine biologist in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Also featuring Tony Stark, a merman who lives in the Arctic Ocean. When Steve first sets his eyes on Tony he can't stop thinking about him, and Tony can't forget about Steve. Another trip to the frigid cold ocean and let's see what happens...
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, pre - Relationship, pre Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Kudos: 45
Collections: Tony Stark Flash Bingo





	An Arctic Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> Title: An Arctic Adventure  
> Card Number: 027  
> Square: Sight  
> Ship: Pre Steve Rogers/Tony Stark  
> Rating: General Audiences  
> Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply  
> For @tonystarkbingo

The first time Steve sees Tony is on a ship. He was sailing across the frigid Arctic Ocean, hoping to catch sights of polar bears and taking water samples when along the edge of a large sheet of ice he sees a flash of golden and red scales. 

Squinting, he rubbed his eyes and took another sip from the warm mug of coffee he held in his hand, chalking it up to exhaustion. He sighed, then took a glance at the thermometer one last time, and headed inside.

////

The first time Tony sees Steve is when he’s on a ship, the metal contraption cutting it’s way slowly through the ice. Tony had seen the dark gray underside of the boat and excitedly swam upwards to observe it. 

Before he even knew it, he was at the surface of the water. There, on the railing of the boat stood a large, tall man. Tony gaped as bubbles escaped from his mouth, there was no  _ way  _ someone was that attractive. He had meet  _ sirens  _ for god’s sake, and yet they had a strange, uneasy angle to their beauty. But this man right here was practically sculpted from marble.

The man looked at Tony, dead in the eyes and Tony let out a shrill shriek, and immediately pushed himself back down into the water.

It was a  _ human _ . Tony quickly swam back down, towards the large kingdom practically vibrating with excitement.

\--

Steve stood in the small office in front of Fury as he felt a bead of sweat drip down his back. The heater was turned all the way up, but it was a bit much, even for the frigid winter chill that settled in Brooklyn every year.

“You want to go back up to the Arctic?” asked Fury incredulously. The man had his hands clasped behind his back, facing the window.

“Yes sir.” replied Steve, without hesitation. Fury turned around and raised an eyebrow.

“Really. Almost nobody ever wants to go back up there, it’s much to cold and dull. You’re a good scientist Rogers, you would do well-”

“With all due respect sir, I would really like to go on the next trip up to the Arctic.” interrupted Steve. Fury paused.

“Fine. We’re almost always lacking volunteers to go, and who knows, perhaps you’ll discover something interesting. I’ll put you down, you’ll be going with Barnes and Barton.” Steve smiled.

“Thank you sir!”

  
  


“Steve! Wait up!” called a gasping voice behind him. Steve turned around and saw his childhood friend and coworker, Bucky Barnes running towards him. The man had a large jacket on, and his face was flushed from the cold.

“You- you’re going on the Arctic trip with us?” he asked. Steve nodded.

“Yeah, I just asked Fury today and he’s letting me go. Why?” Bucky shrugged.

“Cool, cool. But I thought you hated the cold- why in the world would you volunteer?”

Steve’s mind flashed to the red and gold he had seen a little over a month ago, the glimpse of a man. By now he was almost certain there was something, something under the ice that was human, or at least represented one. Bucky knew about it, and there was some gentle teasing but he didn’t take him seriously.

Bucky saw the change in expression on his face and groaned. “Is this about the merman? The  _ very much nonexistent merman _ ?” he asked, walking alongside Steve. Steve scowled and punched him in the arm.

“It IS real.” he insisted. Bucky rubbed his arm and rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, and I have a million dollars. Listen punk, I’m not saying that maybe you hallucinated something from the cold, but you gotta lower your hopes. I highly doubt somethings been out there for this long without us discovering it.” Steve sighed.

“Yeah, I know. But I gotta go back Buck, I can’t just leave it without getting some closure, or a closer study.”

“Fine, fine. But when we get there and you don’t find anything you’re going to buy me some pizza when you realize I’m right.”

////

Tony raced through the large halls of the castle, propelling himself faster and faster with his tail as it cut through the water. Behind him he heard the cries of the guards he was evading for the third time today.

A month ago, when he saw the (rather dashing) stranger on the human boat he had paid the price when he went back to the castle.

His father, King Howard was angry, outrageously angry that his mustache bounced up and down in the water, sending small bubbles flying upwards as he lectured Tony.

_ Don’t go near the surface, human bad, we hate legs etc etc etc. _

That was ok, Tony had dealt with being yelled at before but  _ then  _ Howard decided to ground up. It was ridiculous, Tony was a few centuries old already, so obviously he said no but  _ then  _ Howard decided to assign a few guards to watch over him.

Swerving around a corner, Tony laughed as he finally burst out of an opening into open waters. It was silent, and Tony relaxed as he swam down into the city.

There were plenty of mer-folk darting to and fro, but Tony lurked alongside buildings just in case, as his special golden scales marked him as a royal. Eventually he brightened as he saw his honey bear’s home.

Knocking on the door and not waiting for an answer he darted inside and slammed the door shut behind him.

“Platypus! I’m hoooome.” he called. He heard some grumbling, then saw a merman with a gray tail swim over.

“Tony, my prince. What can I do for you? Evading capture as usual?” he asked sarcastically. Tony rolled his eyes.

“Obviously. I think I lost those guards but just in case they might head here.” Rhodey rolled his eyes.

“Really? The last thing I need to do is buy a new door after they broke the one last time.” 

“But it’s so  _ boring _ . There’s so much stuff to DO and Howard has me locked up all day.”

“I feel so bad for you. I can’t imagine, being a prince and locked up in a massive castle. What would I ever do.” said Rhodey.

“Exactly!” said Tony, ignoring the sarcastic tone of voice. “Please can you take me to the forge? Pretty please?” Rhodey threw a seashell at him, Tony dodged it with ease and it slowly sunk down to the floor.

“I swear you’re going to get me fired someday.” he grumbled. 

“Is that a yes?” Tony asked, hopeful.

“No. Maybe a little self reflection time would do you some good.” 

“Nooooo Rhodey you can’t do this to me. Or you can sit there and listen to me talk about Mr. Hot and Gorgeous human…” he said with a dreamy look on his face. Rhodey threw another seashell at him.

“NOPE. Anything but that, come on, let’s take you to the forge.”

\--

Steve stood at the bow of the ship, desperately scanning the waters with his binoculars. He had done all the work he needed to do, and was now waiting.

In the distance there was water, icebergs, and more water. He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s getting cold, let’s go back inside.” said Bucky gently. Steve shook his head.

“It’s out there somewhere Buck.” he insisted. “Just a few more hours.” he pleaded. Bucky shook his head.

“Steve, I- you know what, you can try again tomorrow okay?” said Bucky, knowing it would be hopeless to argue against Steve. Steve stood, rigid, then slumped.

“Fine. Fine.”

////

Tony had managed to evade his guards as usual, and was chasing after a school of fish when suddenly he felt large heavy vibrations shuddering through the water.

Blinking and looking up, he realised he must’ve gone closer to the surface then he expected. There, along an iceberg was a large, flat bottom of another boat.

Tony flicked his tail back and forth a few times, thinking if he should swim up and check. If his dad found out he would probably be grounded for another decade. But it would be much more interesting than staying in the castle all day.

Making up his mind, Tony pushed himself forward with grace and speed and neared the surface. Popping his head up above the water, he marveled at the stunning expanses of smooth white ice.

The ship however, was empty. Or at least there was nobody on the outside. Tony sighed in disappointment. 

_ Well.  _ Grimacing, he turned his head away from the boat. Across the white expanse of snow he could see well, more snow. Sniffing the air, he hacked and coughed as the flaps in his nose moved to let air in.

Tony sighed, and decided to pull himself onto a nearby chunk of ice. Despite what some humans thought, merpeople could actually survive by breathing y’know, air. However the lack of legs made it much harder to navigate on land.

Poking the cold crunchy substance, Tony laid down and watched the ship with lazy eyes, and fell asleep.

////

The next morning, Steve woke up bright and early, before all of the others were awake. Tugging on a thick jacket and putting on some clothes, he grabbed his binoculars and headed outside.

At the railing of the boat, he scanned the water with the binoculars when suddenly he saw a body. But not any normal person, the sun glinted off of these gorgeous red and golden scales. Eyes widening, Steve reached out and-

_ Fell overboard _

A scream left his mouth as he fell down to the water. The strange man on the iceberg jolted up and saw Steve, and as they made eye contact it was the last thing they saw before Steve fell into the frigid water.

\--

Tony gasped when he saw the human, awoken by it’s shout. In shock, he didn’t move but was jolted back when he saw the disappearing bubbles from where the blonde had fallen.

Practically leaping off the ice he dove for the blonde, and saw his disappearing form under the water. The human sank down, and Tony panicked, pushing himself to swim faster.

Then finally,  _ finally  _ he wrapped his arms around the heavy man and dragged him. He was pulling him upwards, towards the light but the man was so heavy and the strange coverings he wore dragged him downwards.

Giving a frustrated shout, Tony pushed himself just a little bit more and they broke the surface.

_ Where were it’s friends?  _ He thought frantically. Lugging the blonde through the water and tossing him up on the ice he scrambled after him.

Up close he was even more attractive, with a fine sculpted chin and his resting eyes almost seemed like they were sleeping. But the small amounts of blue crawling up his lips said otherwise.

_ A mermaid’s kiss _

Tony suddenly remembered the old stories, of how when merpeople and humans still interacted, how there were tales of a kiss that could breathe air into the other. With nothing left to do, Tony used his webbed hands and planted them on the man’s shoulders, then leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

For a moment, Tony thought all was lost and he stumbled backwards, a few tears leaking out. But then the blonde started coughing, hacking up water and wheezing. Tony waited for them, then watched as they opened their eyes.

“... I knew you were real.” the blonde said hoarsely. Tony’s eyes widened. 

“You just died and that’s all you have to say?” he asked, almost screaming. The blonde blinked.

“Y-you speak English?” he asked. Tony frowned and noticed he was shivering. 

“Maybe.” he said shortly. “You need to get back on your boat.” he said, waving at the tall metal contraption. 

“I... “ he said, then coughed again. “I don’t think I’m strong enough to get up.” he said, then closed his eyes again.

“Well that won’t do… blonde? Hey blonde!” said Tony, realizing the man was unresponsive again. Shaking his shoulders, he looked at the man, then his boat.

“HEY! HEY!” he yelled, waving his arms. Someone  _ had  _ to come out. And sure enough, a brown haired man walked out to the railing.

“What are you yelling… STEVE?” he shrieked. Tony rolled his eyes.  _ Steve! _

“Your friend needs help!” he yelled. The brown haired man stared at Tony for a moment, then ran to the side of the boat. Tony wondered where he was for a few moments, then a large orange raft came from the side of the boat.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked, until he was close enough to the chunk of ice Tony and Steve were resting on. 

“That doesn’t matter, your friend needs help.” said Tony. The man extended his arms and the pair helped lug Steve onto the raft. He quickly wrapped a blanket around Steve then looked at Tony up and down.

“Hmm.” he said. “Aren’t you cold?” Tony opened his mouth to ask him what he meant but then felt something weird. Looking down, he gaped at his tail- or two legs.

“Uhhhh” said Tony, looking at his hands. The webbing had disappeared and his scales were fewer and scattered. “I’m fine.” he choked out. The man shrugged.

“Suit yourself. My name’s Bucky.” he said.

They finally got onto the large boat and the blonde was taken away by some other humans. Tony then flushed when he realized he was naked compared to the others.

Bucky must have noticed, then handed Tony some fabric. Tony stared at them, then at Bucky. He put them on like how the other humans had been wearing it.

They walked down below the top deck, to where Steve was. “That over there is Clint, he’s an asshole, there’s Sam and there are some other crew members who aren’t around currently.” said Bucky. “Care to explain why you were floating around the middle of the Arctic?” he asked casually.

“It’s my home.” said Tony. Bucky furrowed his brow.

“... of course.” he said. Pushing a door open Tony saw Steve laying in a bed, looking quite warm and cozy, wrapped up in some blankets. Bucky pushed him in.

“I think you two should have some time alone.” he said, then closed the door and left. Without anything to do, Tony sat on a chair besides Steves bed.

A few hours must have passed, when Tony jolted awake and felt a warm hand on his arm.

“Hey.” said Steve. Tony turned to look at him.

“Hey.” he said with a breath. Steve smiled.

“So… my name’s Steve.” he offered.

“Yeah I know. I’m Tony.”

“Tony.” said Steve with a stupid look on his face. “I feel like I’ve met you before.” he says. “But with a lot more… scales and less leg.”

Tony laughed. “I’m sure it was just another trick of the mind.” he said nervously. Steve shrugged.

“So, what are you doing all the way out here?” he asked.

“I live here. But uh, could I maybe catch a ride on your boat back?” asked Tony. Howard would not be happy, and if he went back he would probably be chained to his room forever.

“Sure!” said Steve quickly. “Do you have a place to stay?”

“... I don't.”

“You could… you could stay at my place?” asked Steve, hopeful. 

“Really?!”

“Yeah of course. I think we’re going to get along just fine.”


End file.
